Homeward serves as the regional voice on homelessness and related housing and human services for the Richmond region. As the regional planning and coordinating agency for homeless services, Homeward's mission is to prevent, reduce, and end homelessness by facilitating creative solutions through the collaboration, coordination, and cooperation of regional resources and services.

In 2006, Homeward was tasked by the Richmond region to develop a unified vision to prevent and end homelessness in our region and, in this process, to restore hope and dignity to our region’s most vulnerable residents. Through this deliberative planning process with representatives from over 35 non-profit homelessness and housing providers and four local governments, our community launched the Ten Year Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness in the Richmond Region in January 2008. Implementation of the Ten Year Plan is transforming our community’s homeless services system to focus on housing stability for families and individuals experiencing homelessness and other community residents earning between 0 and 30% AMI who are at risk of homelessness.

Homeward serves as the regional voice on homelessness and related housing and human services for the Richmond region. As the regional planning and coordinating agency for homeless services, Homeward's mission is to prevent, reduce, and end homelessness by facilitating creative solutions through the collaboration, coordination, and cooperation of regional resources and services.

In 2006, Homeward was tasked by the Richmond region to develop a unified vision to prevent and end homelessness in our region and, in this process, to restore hope and dignity to our region’s most vulnerable residents. Through this deliberative planning process with representatives from over 35 non-profit homelessness and housing providers and four local governments, our community launched the Ten Year Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness in the Richmond Region in January 2008. Implementation of the Ten Year Plan is transforming our community’s homeless services system to focus on housing stability for families and individuals experiencing homelessness and other community residents earning between 0 and 30% AMI who are at risk of homelessness.

Impact

Goal 1: Transform the homeless services delivery system to focus on housing stability. Achievement: Results from the January 2017 Point-in-Time count revealed that 662 people in the region are experiencing homelessness on any given day, which reflects a 42.4% decrease from the peak in January 2009.

Goal 2:Ensure access to permanent housing. Achievements:1) Over 50 individuals were rapidly re-housed out of Richmond's cold weather shelter in partnership with HomeAgain 2) 200 homeless veterans have been housed since October 2014. 3) The median length of families was reduced from 120 days in 2013 to 60 days in 2014.

Goal 3: Prevent individuals and families from falling into homelessness. Achievement: 151 single adults and 100 families received homelessness prevention assistance to maintain their housing or access affordable housing.

Goal 4: Educate and advocate for change. Achievements:1) A coordinated system of care allows us to leverage more than $6 million in federal and state funding for our region. 2) 687 individuals were connected to over 40 service providers at Project Homeless Connect. 500 community volunteers worked with the clients to prioritize and navigate the services available. 3) More than 200 public and private sector homeless services staff attended the Regional Best Practices Conference to learn the most effective ways to prevent and end homelessness.

Goal 5: Provide regional data and research on homelessness. Achievements: 1)Conducted a study with the Richmond City Jail which showed that one-third of adults served by regional homeless shelters were also incarcerated at the Jail within the same twelve-month period. 2) Co-authored a study on the connection of homelessness and foreclosures with the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.

Needs

Connections with affordable housing and employment opportunities necessary for individuals and families to maintain stable housing.

Flexible funding to help people get off the streets and into housing. As an alternative to giving to panhandlers, Homeward has created a flexible fund to help pay for ID’s and birth certificates and other needed documents that help someone get off the streets and into housing.

Project Homeless Connect: $25,000 for event materials to connect over 500 people experiencing or at risk of homelessness to over 40 service providers with the help of 600 volunteers.

People: 1) We recruit up to 600 community volunteers for Project Homeless Connect. This year’s event will be held on November 17,2) We need around 65 volunteers for our January and July Point-in-Time counts, 3) Board members with an interest in system-level community change and a passion for community transformation.

Public Education Campaign: $15,000 to develop and implement a public education campaign to share what’s working to reduce homelessness in our community.

Background

There’s a reason the greater Richmond area has one of the most progressive homeless response models in the nation. All the parties involved work cooperatively though one centralized resource: Homeward.

That’s just what our founders intended in 1998 when local community leaders formed a Task Force on Homelessness with business leaders, government agencies, The United Way and other local non-profits. Together they engaged the community, assessed the extent of homelessness, and analyzed the mix of services. One of their primary recommendations was the formation of a new agency and Homeward was born with the mission “To prevent, reduce and end homelessness by facilitating creative solutions through collaboration, coordination and cooperation of regional resources and services.”

From that day forward, we have been THE catalyst for change in the greater Richmond area. One of the first things we did was qualify our region for HUD Continuum of Care funds, thus increasing the resources available to our communities. But that‘s just the beginning of the services Homeward delivers. We continuously search the country for the most successful programs and bring best practices back to the Richmond region. We look for innovative ways to plug service gaps and eliminate duplicated efforts. We compile statistics, conduct primary research, analyze data comprehensively, disseminate that information, and assist with planning strategies and tactics. In other words, Homeward facilitates an informed, unified, community-wide response to homelessness by involving all interested partners in data-driven decision-making that targets our best opportunities to really help our neighbors in crisis.

Each of these initiatives brings us closer to eliminating homelessness altogether and even though there is much left to do, we are well on our way. Today we have a network of more than 150 partners ranging from service providers to law enforcement and mental health advocates. We supply free data to all 8 of the greater Richmond municipalities and work closely with city and county planners and social service agencies. We continue to fill gaps by incubating new service programs and bringing the entire community together to advocate for change that benefits both the system and the people.

CEO Statement

The work that Homeward does directly or indirectly affects every citizen of central Virginia and is essential to the people in the midst of a housing crisis and all those who care for them. Specifically, Homeward’s activities ensure that:

· People get the help they need – Since the causes of homelessness are so varied and complex, the solutions must be equally varied and coordinated. By facilitating the development of targeted new services, delivered through a case management system that fully integrates care, we can achieve better outcomes for more people in less time.

· All our children will have stable homes – Children affected by homelessness face greater obstacles to success every step of the way for the rest of their lives. By helping provide the stability children need to thrive, we protect them in the present and optimize their opportunities for the future.

· Our non-profit partners will be more successful – With common services and coordinated efforts, each of our non-profit partners is free to do what they do best: help people. By working as a unified community, each agency functions more effectively and our combined network achieves more synergy.

· The quality of services continuously improves – Homeward not only challenges our partners to pursue ever more effective practices, we give them the tools to do so. By investigating and adapting successful models from other communities and continuously sharing information and training opportunities, our partner agencies both follow and set best practices.

· More funds flow to the great Richmond area – Homeward enables compliance measures which would be cost prohibitive to many non-profits. By making sure all of those experiencing homelessness are counted, we also ensure that central Virginia receives our full share of funding from state and federal governments.

· Every dollar is invested wisely – Our collaborative model eliminates duplication of effort, freeing resources that can be concentrated elsewhere and making sure we maximize the results from every investment.

· The region will save money in the long term – Every person or family we keep in permanent housing saves tens of thousands of dollars for a wide variety of government agencies. Likewise, the shorter we make each homeless event, the less the overall cost to the community. By eliminating homelessness altogether, we free both financial and human resources to focus on other pressing issues.

· Everyone will have better, more diverse housing choices – By working to develop affordable housing supplies throughout the region, we ensure all families and citizens have access to affordable housing options. Moreover, when we de-concentrate poverty, we give more families better opportunities to escape it.

· The quality of life for the whole community will improve – A region filled with engaged, stable citizens attracts business and tourism, both of which strengthen the tax base. More importantly, the people who live here have greater opportunities, feel safer, and have a higher level of satisfaction with their communities.

All these benefits are already becoming reality, thanks to the cooperation of all interested parties. Our partners testify to the advantages of Homeward’s leadership, and our measurements prove our successes.

Areas of Service

Areas Served

Area

In a specific U.S. city, cities, state(s) and/or region.

Metro Richmond

Homeward serves the City of Richmond, the Town of Ashland, and the counties of Charles City, Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent, and Powhatan.

Board Chair

Board Chair John Apostle

Company AffiliationGenworth Financial

TermDec 2016 to June 2018

EmailJohn.Apostle@Genworth.com

Board of Directors

Board Members

Name

Affiliation

John Apostle

Genworth Financial

Michael Bowman

Capital One

William Carter

Community Volunteer

Carolyn Champion

Genworth Foundation

Guy Chapman

Pacific Summit Energy

Jane Crawley

Henrico County

Sheila Crossen-Powell

Hanover County

Susan Hallett

The Bob & Anna Lou Schaberg Fund at VNHC

Mark Hickman

Commonwealth Strategy Group

W. Brandon Hinton

Henrico County

Laura Lafayette

Richmond Association of Realtors

Ann Lang

Virginia Employment Commission

Ryann Lofchie

Frontier Project

Dr. Robyn Diehl McDougle

VCU

Donald Raikes

Dominion Energy

Martha Shickle

Richmond Regional Planning District Commission

Jyot Singh

RTS Labs

Sarah Snead

County of Chesterfield

Beth Vann-Turnbull

Housing Families First

Adrienne Whitaker

Greater Richmond ARC

Board Demographics - Ethnicity

African American/Black3

Asian American/Pacific Islander1

Caucasian16

Hispanic/Latino0

Native American/American Indian0

Board Demographics - Gender

Male8

Female12

Governance

Board Term Lengths3

Board Term Limits2

Written Board Selection Criteria?Yes

Written Conflict of Interest Policy?Yes

Percentage Making Monetary Contributions100

Number of Full Board Meetings Annually4

Other Boards

The tables below contain information about other groups that advise this nonprofit on operations and projects.

Advisory Board Members

Name

Affiliation

Robert Sledd

Senior Advisor to Governor McDonnell

Executive Director

Executive Director Kelly King Horne

Experience

Summary A dynamic leader with extensive experience in visioning, strategic thinking, and implementation of multifaceted projects including stakeholders from the public and private sectors. A consensus-builder with a systems-perspective and a proven record of leveraging scarce resources to accomplish shared goals. An exceptional communicator with special emphasis on board and staff development and management consulting in the housing and homelessness field in sixteen countries.

WORK EXPERIENCE

Homeward, May 2003 - present Richmond, VA

Executive Director, March 2007 - present

Acting Executive Director, July 2006 – March 2007

Lead the regional coordinating agency for homeless services, including the development and implementation of a regional strategic plan, board relationships, development, organizational management, and research and analysis.

· Led the development of a regional strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness and outlined an implementation plan, working with over forty community volunteers from a diverse range of stakeholders including four local governments, the local housing authority, and clients of homeless services.

· Strengthened the organization’s business practices to increase the transparency and cost effectiveness of its programming and to enhance its impact on the regional public and private services system.

· Defined need for senior leadership for the Homeward Community Information System, recruited current director, and started system-wide assessment.

· Initiated program of technical assistance on latest trends and national best practices in homelessness for over thirty agencies.

· Engaged representatives from four political jurisdictions in the annual census of persons experiencing homelessness for the first time.

Program and Development Director, November 2005 – March 2007

· Defined programmatic initiatives for development campaign, raising over $1.2 million in multi-year pledges.

· Modified programming to focus on affordable housing and the prevention of homelessness.

In 2006, Homeward led the development of a unified vision to prevent and end homelessness and to restore hope and dignity to our community’s most vulnerable residents. Through this planning process with representatives from over 35 non-profits and four local governments, our community launched the Ten Year Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness in the Richmond Region in January 2008. The Ten Year Planguides the transformation of our community’s homeless services system to focus on housing stability for people experiencing homelessness or those at risk of homelessness. The goals of the Plan include: a) Focusing on reducing the length of homelessness experienced in the region; b) Prioritizing affordable housing as a solution for homelessness; c) Increasing the pool of prevention resources, such as rent, utilities, job training and healthcare; d) Educating policy-makers about homelessness; and, e) Developing our regional research as a tool for community analysis and decision-making.

Population ServedHomeless

Budget$442,582.00

Short Term SuccessBy focusing on the length of homelessness and the rate of return to shelter, we will know whether our efforts are successful. We now know that almost one quarter of individuals return to shelter after exiting and that the average length of homelessness is five months. Homeward also surveys people experiencing homelessness twice a year and compares the total population as well as the subpopulations and shelter status of those we survey.

Long Term Success

Success will be measured by the median length of homelessness, the number of people experiencing homelessness for the first time, and the number of people who return to the homeless services system after exiting a shelter. While people will always experience personal and financial crises which lead to homelessness, we can reduce the destabilizing impact of homelessness by quickly returning them to housing stability. The Ten Year Plan outlines strategies to increase access to permanent housing and to provide the right mix of supportive services for individuals and families currently caught up in this crisis. Homeward provides the leadership our region needs to implement these strategies successfully.

DescriptionProject Homeless Connect is a nationally recognized best practice to address the needs of people experiencing homelessness and is modeled on the Stand Down events for veterans where service providers come together to make a range of services available in one location. Project Homeless Connect fills a gap in our community’s services for persons who are unsheltered or not engaged in the system of services and is a key strategy in the Ten Year Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness in the Richmond Region to meet the needs of unsheltered individuals. We serve up to 750 individuals experiencing homelessness or at great risk of homelessness by matching each person seeking services with a community volunteer. The volunteer works with the person in crisis to access services designed to address barriers to housing stability.

Population ServedHomeless

Budget$60,000.00

Short Term SuccessKey outcomes from 2009 include the following:

- 741 clients served

- 721 community volunteers participated in the event

- 25 credit reports provided

- 52 clients received financial counseling

- 102 referrals to emergency or transitional shelter

- 34 clients received foreclosure counseling

- 403 employment counseling services provided

- 687 medical or dental services provided

- 124 substance/ mental health services provided

- 153 inquiries about benefits assistance

Long Term Success

The overall goal of Project Homeless Connect (PHC) is to connect single adults experiencing homelessness or at great risk of homelessness to services which will lead to increased stability (through housing, employment, or connection to other services). PHC not only addresses the need for services and barriers to those services faced by the target population, but also brings together service providers to address the needs of this population, and engages community volunteers to change stereotypes of homelessness and to mobilize political will to solve homelessness.

There are three primary components of PHC: 1) co-located services in order to reduce transportation and other barriers to receiving services, 2) services provided on site that can address immediate barriers to stability , and 3) community volunteers working one-on-one with people seeking services to prioritize and access services, to make a personal connection, and to understand that change is possible.

Homeward's Community Information System (HCIS) is the regional implementation of the system required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. HCIS is a web-based database tool used in Greater Richmond and other communities around Virginia to link clients to resources, to better understand client demographics, service needs, service usage, and trends, and to facilitate community planning. HCIS enables homeless service providers to manage real-time client and resource information and data. It provides client and referral monitoring, case management, and reporting through a web interface. This "real-time" information allows individuals and families to get immediate assistance in any location where they have come to seek help. HCIS provides the longitudinal data which allows Homeward and other organizations to monitor trends in the community. Use of HCIS allows the Richmond region to access over $4 million in federal and state funding for homeless services.

Population ServedHomeless

Budget$178,674.00

Short Term Success

HCIS allows the community to leverage state and federal funding for homeless services. For Homeward and our partners in the homeless services system, HCIS provides the measurement to one of our key indicators of success for the Ten Year Plan. Using HCIS, we can monitor how many people return to the shelter system after exiting. We strive to connect people to the services and housing they need to maintain stable housing and not return to the shelter system.

Long Term Success

The Homeward Community Information System benefits people in crisis by increasing the coordination of service providers. Additionally, HCIS provides online real-time information about needs and available services for people experiencing homelessness; tracks client outcomes and provides a client history; assures confidentiality by providing information in a secured system; facilitates the coordination of services internally and externally with other agencies and programs; and provides access to a region-wide database of service providers and allows agency staff to easily select a referral agency.